


in the darkness i will meet my creators

by writerblender



Series: aren't we just terrified? [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: : ), Fix-It, M/M, literally FUCK the duffer brothers specifically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 12:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19476430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerblender/pseuds/writerblender
Summary: "What's wrong?" Jane mumbles."I need you to take me to him."[or, the fucking fix-it for s3]





	in the darkness i will meet my creators

**Author's Note:**

> this can be read alone but is a sequel to "how a face can change when a heart knows fear"
> 
> nora is robin's girlfriend; she's an oc!

Steve doesn't let tomorrow come. At least, not how Max had hoped. It's just before dawn when the idea hits Steve and he practically bolts upright with the mere thought, nearly waking Robin and Dustin in the process. He's careful to step around the sleeping bodies, hoping not to wake any one, before he comes to Jane's side. "Jane," he hisses, shaking her shoulder. "El, wake _up_!"

"What's wrong?" She mumbles groggily, eyes glazed over from sleep. She nearly wakes up Mike as she straightens up to look at Steve clearly. "What is it?"

"I need you to take me to him," Steve says.

"No." Jane is firm in a single word.

"Jane -!" Steve begins but Jane grabs his wrist, expression hardening as their gaze locks.

"He said _no_."

"And you're gonna listen to that?" Steve demands, voice rising as the situation escalates. "You're gonna just let him die? He's your _friend_. He's - he's _more_ than that..."

Jane looks over at Mike without a word, her shoulders sagging with understanding. When she turns back to Steve, her eyes are sadder than before. Steve feels guilty, just for a moment, for doing that to her. "You love him," she finishes softly.

"Yeah," Steve exhales, throat swelling with emotion. If this doesn't work, he'll have to watch Billy _die_. Billy, who was on the way to one of their dates when the Upside Down dragged him, kicking and screaming, into its sick game. Billy, who he's shared more than just a summer with. "Yeah. I do."

Jane swallows hard, fingers moving from his wrist to squeeze his own. "Follow me."

...

They lock themselves in the Byers' bathroom.

Jane hands Steve one of Jonathan's ties. "You'll need this," she says calmly, almost eerily so, and Steve nods, taking it from her without a word. He mimics her movements as she ties her own fabric around her eyes. When the world moves into darkness, Steve's heart begins to hammer. _What is he doing?_

Jane reaches out, taking both of his hands in hers, and the world drops from underneath him.

...

Steve wakes up in his own house. "Jane?!" He cries, sitting up from where he's strewn about on the kitchen floor, rock settling in his stomach as he realizes that it might not have worked. "Jane!"

"Nobody's home, pretty boy," the voice coming from the dining room is cold and hollow but Steve recognizes it instantly. He clambers to his feet and into the room, only to find Billy seated at the table. It's like he had been waiting for him, Steve realizes. He can't even begin to wonder if this is a bad decision; he's already in too deep.

"Billy," Steve breathes.

"You keep asking for him, as if he's _still_ in here," Billy says, eyes cold as they meet Steve's. Steve's heart plummets to his feet but he moves forward, desperate to get closer to Billy. Before he can get any further, Billy is up to his feet, chair clattering to the ground behind him. He has his hands around Steve's throat, pushing him to the back wall. Steve grabs the edge of the wall and yanks hard; they both tumble to the ground. "He's going to fucking kill you, you fa -!"

 _Memories_. Jane's voice echoes loudly in his head and Steve winces, swallowing hard.

"You kissed me in the quarry."

Next to him, Billy freezes, his entire body trembling with effort. Steve knows he's fighting an internal battle now; all he can do is provide ammunition.

"In April. Your dad was pissed... gave you a black eye. You wouldn't let me help. But you called... on Max's walkie-talkie. You wanted to see me. You kissed me, against the Camaro."

Billy closes his eyes, arms collapsing. He lies on the floor, motionless.

"Billy, please," Steve pleads, shaky hands pressing against Billy's cheek. Steve wonders, frantically, if he's accidentally killed the other boy. He scrambles to be closer, pressing their bodies together. The last time they were this close, they were making love in Steve's bed. They were _okay_. As if he can read Steve's mind, Billy whimpers at the touch, face pressing into Steve's hand subconsciously. "Please. Come back to me, baby. I'm right here."

Billy's eyes are slow to open but they're looking straight at Steve when they do. His voice is hoarse, barely a whisper.

"Steve?"

Before Steve can reply, the world around him drops beneath him. Steve wakes up to the blindfold being ripped off his face by Nancy, concern plastered over her face, and Jane crying in Joyce's arms. His heart falls next.

...

Across town, Billy wakes up for the first time.

...

"It worked," Jane breathes as soon as Steve comes to his senses. "It worked."

Steve doesn't need another word. He's up on his feet, racing towards his Beemer. He's out the door and down the front lawn before he realizes he doesn't have the keys. He turns around, not wanting to waste another second, only to be met with Robin on the front porch, keys dangling from her fingers. She tosses them to him in one throw, hurrying to meet his pace to the car.

"Where are we going?"

"I'll know when I get there."

...

Steve finds Billy limping down the long driveway of the steel mill, covered in blood, sweat, and black monster gore. He practically forgets to park the car to stop it, hitting the brakes so hard that Robin screams as she's thrown forward. She barely has a second to recover, diving across the front seat for the steering wheel, as Steve jumps out of the driver's seat, racing towards Billy.

Billy all but collapses into Steve's arms. Steve's legs buckle with the unexpected weight at first before he gets a proper hold on Billy, holding him tight to his chest. Billy sobs into Steve's chest, his entire body shaking with the effort to stand.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Steve whispers. "I got you."

"I - I - Steve - I -" Billy tries, voice shaky as he tries to explain himself.

"No, no, c'mon," Steve hushes him, strong arm wrapping around Billy's torso. "C'mon. Robin's in the car. Let's go."

"Robin?" Billy repeats weakly, eyes half-lidded, and Steve nods, kissing the top of his head.

"Yeah, she's here. Got Nora all worked up over you both," Steve continues, silently mouthing a thank you to Robin as she opens the backseat door from inside his car, before crawling into the driver's seat herself. "We came to get you."

Billy finally does collapse onto Steve when they get into the car, flinching at the sound of Steve shutting the door behind him. "You..."

"Yeah," Steve assures him, hands running up and down Billy's back in attempts to soothe him. Billy's head rests on Steve's shoulder, clearly exhausted with the effort of just being present, and Steve rests his chin on top of Billy's head. "I got you. We're getting out of here."

...

Steve practically carries Billy into the foyer of the Byers’ house, straight into a lecture from Hopper to the kids about how what they’ve done is so incredibly dangerous. He shuts up instantly upon seeing Steve and Billy; the only sound to echo him is Robin shutting the door loudly behind them.

Billy flinches at the noise, the first real semblance of life since he got in the car, and Steve immediately hums quietly in response, doing his best to soothe the other boy. Robin mumbles a weak apology behind him.

”What in _the_ _fuck_ did you do?” Murray says, exasperated, from the couch.

”Billy!” Max screams, pushing out of Lucas’s hold and rushing forward, arms wrapping around his torso tightly.

Billy moans something unintelligible, hiccuping on a sob. Steve shushes him gently, bringing his face into his shoulder. Billy weeps into his shirt and Steve sends an apologetic glance to Max as she lets go, sending him a nervous glance. Billy clutches Steve’s shirt tighter as Max lets go. Steve is glad he won’t need the uniform much longer.

”Come on,” Steve says softly. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

...

Joyce ends up helping Steve in the bathroom, Robin disappearing into another room at a quiet request from Jane.

Steve slowly strips Billy down to his underwear; the other boy is clearly struggling to regain his own autonomy, especially when it comes to instructions. Once he does, he eases Billy into the tub, sitting him between his legs. It’s a small bath and a tight fit for two grown men but Steve wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Joyce turns on the spray, warm water pouring out of the faucet, and the second it hits Billy, he screams. Steve reacts instinctively, wrapping both arms around Billy’s torso as he thrashes in his hold. 

“Billy, what’s wrong?” Steve shouts but Billy only whines back, pressing his face into Steve’s shoulder again, as if just human contact with Steve could protect him from the Upside Down.

”It hates the heat,” Joyce mumbles, flipping the faucet handle. “The kids locked him in a sauna. I think they wanted to flush it out.”

”They did _what_?!” Steve cries, new information boiling his blood when Billy starts to speak.

”I’m sorry, Steve. I’m _sorry_. It wasn’t me; you have to believe me. It wasn’t me; it _wasn’t_ ,” Billy begs, entire body trembling.

”Hey, hey, I know, I know,” Steve coos, brushing a hand through Billy’s damp hair. As the temperature of the water begins to cool, Billy groans again, shaking violently against Steve.

”It likes the c-cold,” Billy moans and Joyce moves faster than Steve can think, slamming the water off completely.

”We’ve got some washcloths in the cupboard,” Joyce says softly. “Why don’t we wet them and try that, hm?” Steve is so endlessly grateful for her that he forgets how to speak for a moment. She reaches over, warm hand on Billy’s shoulder, brushing her thumb softly to comfort him.

Billy lifts his head from Steve’s shoulder, free hand coming to grasp hers in his. 

“It’s all over now, honey,” Joyce whispers. Steve can see the tears in her eyes. “You’re safe now. You’re okay.”

...

It takes Steve a little over an hour to wipe all the blood and gore off Billy. Billy’s silent the whole time, making it almost unbearable for Steve’s nerves. 

Jonathan drops off some clothes, a pair of grey sweatpants and a button down that looks suspiciously like Hopper’s. Steve wordlessly lifts him out of the tub, dries him off, and helps him into the clothes. 

Steve’s just taken a towel to Billy’s hair, leaving it standing up every which way as it air dries. “Oh, come on,” he teases, voice light. “I _clearly_ have the better hair here.”

The smallest of smiles appears on Billy’s face and when Steve leans forward, pressing a soft kiss to Billy’s lips, he counts it as a miracle. 

...

”Steve, are you out of your _mind_?!” Dustin screeches. Billy burrows deeper into Steve’s side on the couch. Seeing the kids, especially Jane, had set Billy into a quiet terror.

”I will be if you keep yelling,” Steve snaps. “I'm not changing my mind.”

”Steve, we _need_ you!” Mike cries. “We don’t need him.”

”Hey!” Max and Steve yell at the same time. Billy says nothing at Steve’s side. Still, the brunette tightens his grip on Billy’s hand.

“You want to kill the monster that took him over for a week? Fat chance it’s not coming running back for revenge,” Steve retorts. Billy shivers. 

"Nora can do it," Robin says, voice calm and collected. Her stance radiates the most confidence out of anyone in the room. "She knows what to do."

"Then why doesn't Nora watch him?" Lucas suggests. "They're friends, right? She can stay here."

"No." It's a firm word in unison from both Robin and Steve. Robin won't let Nora out of her sight, especially if she's in danger - Steve knows that now. He also knows it's going to take a hell of a lot more than the end of the world as they know it to pull Steve from Billy's side now that he's finally found him.

"I'm staying. That's final." Steve says as Billy leans forward, grabbing the waste bin at his feet and vomiting thick black goo into the basin. Steve rubs his back slowly, gentle hands reminding Billy he's not alone anymore.

No one protests after that.

...

Two hours later, the lights in the Byers' home flicker and die. A loud bellow, too haunting to be human, echoes through the living room. Though Steve knows it's far from them, Billy still whimpers pitifully. Steve presses himself impossibly closer to the other boy.

"It's okay," Steve whispers softly. "They can't hurt you. I'm here."

"Mike was right," Billy whispers. "I'm not worth all this, Steve. You should have let me die."

"No, no, baby," Steve hushes him, moving from his position on the couch to kneel in between Billy's legs on the floor. It's so similar to where he was only hours ago, begging the Mindflayer to just let Billy _live_ \- _please_ \- that his throat closes with emotion before he can say anything. Billy must know what he's thinking as his eyes gloss over with tears instantly. "You can't think that."

"Steve," Billy moans. "I've done terrible things. It made me."

"It wasn't you," Steve reminds him, squeezing his hands firmly. "It wasn't you. You didn't want to do any of those things. We know that. I know that."

Billy shakes his head, ready to protest, when Steve cuts him off. "No. You know it. Say it."

"Harrington..."

"Say it."

"It wasn't me," Billy says softly and Steve nods, hands moving to brush away the gathering tears on Billy's cheeks. He rises on his knees in the dark, pressing his lips softly to Billy's.

Billy pulls away from him, looking down at their conjoined hands. "Don't," he says softly.

Steve shakes his head, tilting Billy's head up softly, hand under his chin, to kiss him again. "There's nothing in the world that could make me not want to kiss you."

There's a beat of silence between their kiss before Billy's eyes meet his. "You gettin' soft on me, Harrington?"

Steve kisses back his answer.

...

The party returns to the house a few hours later, just as dawn is meeting the skies. Steve leaves his spot beside Billy to hug Dustin and Robin tightly, no words available to describe how thankful he is to see them both alive and unharmed.

To his surprise, he sees Nora, looking frazzled and lost, push past the kids in the door and to Billy, hugging him tightly. When she pulls away, there are tears in Billy's eyes again.

"H-Heather... She didn’t... It wanted you," Billy whimpers. "I begged it not to take you or Robin. I tried. I _did_."

"You did it, Billy," Nora beams at him, pushing the curls from his face. "You did it. You saved us. All of us.”

...

Later that morning, while Jonathan and Hopper are busy helping Nancy and Joyce make a breakfast large enough to feed a small army, Steve and Billy have found themselves a quite place against the dining room wall, Steve's arms wrapped around Billy's torso, murmuring soft words to the blonde as he relaxes into Steve’s hold.

Jane is eerily silent as she enters the room; Steve doesn't notice her until she's practically next to him, small hand reaching for Billy's arm. The second she makes contact, Billy's entire body stiffens. He takes one look down at her, blanches, and rips himself away from Steve's hold. He's out of the room before Steve can stop him; Steve makes a move to go after him before Jane's hands on his wrist halt him in his own tracks.

"I don't understand," she says simply.

"He's scared," Steve says. "He never wanted to hurt you, Jane. He loves you. He became... the thing he was most afraid of."

"But I _forgive_ him," Jane pleads.

"I know. He just needs some time."

"How _long_?"

"I don't know."

It's the most painful truth Steve's had to admit that night; it hangs heavy between them. Steve's glad she lets go of him then; he thinks any more time in there would suffocate him under the weight of it all.

...

Steve finds Max hugging Billy as he cries into her lap. He's mumbling some sort of apologizes for horrors he never committed and Max leans down, resting her head on his back as she holds him. 

He shuts the door behind him.

There are just some things he can't fix.

...

While the eggs and toast are being served, Nora pulls away from Robin and motions to the living room with Steve. Billy is talking quietly to Joyce, so Steve figures it's as good a time as ever to sneak away if he has to. He follows Nora there, watches as she pulls a small piece of yellow paper from her jacket pocket, and hands it to him.

"What is this?" Steve asks, opening the folded paper. It's a phone number - with an area code he doesn’t recognize.

"My dad, uh, works for the post office. Robin said your little friend - Jane? - said something about Billy's... You should give it to him," she says, stuffing her hands back in her pockets as if to fill the empty space the paper leaves. Steve knows she cares about Billy, deep down, even if he was only her fake boyfriend for a few months. "I think she'll want to hear from her son. Know he's okay."

"Thank you," Steve says simply. Nora beams back at him.

When they re-enter the kitchen, Billy is still talking to Joyce but his eyes immediately find Steve. Nora goes to help Robin and Will with the place settings in the dining room and Steve waltzes over to Billy, pressing a quick kiss to the side of his head.

"What was that about?" Billy asks. "You two talkin' bout me?" Steve knows it's an attempt at a joke, the old Billy fighting to return to the surface, so he smiles.

"Yeah," Steve retorts. "We compared notes on your ass."

Billy smiles at him again, small but there, and Steve's heart flutters wildly in his chest. They've got a long way to go and the slip of paper in his jeans is burning a hole in his brain. Still, they're alive and safe.

They've got all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> if i ever see the duffer brothers in real life it's on fucking SIGHT
> 
> also if anyone is interested in another part with billy's mom & his recovery (w/ hopper, etc.), PLEASE let me know!!
> 
> you can always reach me on tumblr @ wndasmaximoffs <3
> 
> kudos and comments fill the void in my heart!
> 
> title from daughter's "smother"


End file.
